Looking for advice on how to buy a motorcycle without a title? Then you have come to the right place. In the following section, you’ll learn more about used motorcycles, particularly those that come with no titles.
However, the advice provided here will not work if you are trying to get a title for a stolen bike. One of the steps will have you getting in touch with the police, who will run the VIN to find out more information about the bike. Should it come up stolen, then you will be in big trouble with the law.
This advice will work perfectly for you if you have bought a legitimate bike with no title and/or you lost the title to your motorcycle. It will help you when you are looking to sell/register the bike but you are having issues because you are having a hard time proving that you actually own it.
Remember, this is a situation that tons of bike enthusiasts find themselves in. Not everyone keeps good records of all their ownership documents. Therefore, you might end up in a situation where you buy or bought a bike that doesn’t have a title.
How To Register A Bike Without A Title
The best thing to do would be to visit http://dmv.vermont.gov/registrations. The website will provide you with all the information on how to register such a bike. You’ll also learn from the link that you don’t need to be a Vermont resident to register the bike.
ln Vermont, you can register a bike without a title even through the mail. Simply download all the proper forms, print them, and fill them out before sending them to the right address.
It will cost you around $89 to title and register a motorcycle that you bought with no title. This will provide you with transferable registration for 1 year and a VT license plate. All of these will be sent to you via regular mail and should get to your registered address around 10 days after you sent the correct forms and they find that you check out.
Selling A Bike Without A Title
Obviously, you should try to never involve yourself with any bike that was stolen. In the same way, you need to ward off any deal that you feel is suspicious. You certainly don’t want to err on the wrong side of the law with regards to property that might have been obtained illegally.
Anyway, once you have received the VT registration, you will be able to ride around on your bike using the registration and the plate from Vermont. Of course, this will depend on the particular laws applicable to your state with regards to out-of-state vehicles.
Get A Title For Your Bike
As far as possible, ensure that you register the bike in your own state. To do this, bring the transferable Vermont registration to the local DMV in your state and register the motorcycle in your legal name. In case your state provides titles for smaller bikes, you will also get a new title once you hand over the VT registration.
Why You Need A Title
Like any other vehicle, or piece of property for that matter, motorcycles should have titles. The title shows that you are the true owner of the bike, that it wasn’t not stolen, that it has been duly registered with the relevant authorities, and that you are allowed to ride on it on public.
If you buy a bike without a title, you are likely to encounter a couple of problems. These include, but are not limited to:
- You might be charged with possessing stolen property
- The bike might have got into the seller’s hand through some dubious means, and these charges might be leveled against you even if you are an innocent party
- You won’t feel comfortable going out in public on your bike, at least not as much as if you had bought a bike with a title
- As per law, you don’t own a bike if you do not have its title
Anyway, once you run the VIN with the police or with a local dealer, you will be informed if the bike still has a lien against a bank, if it was stolen, and so on and so forth.
Final Verdict
Over and above everything else, try not to get involved with any bike purchase if the paperwork seems strange and dubious. Visit an auto tags store with the motorcycle’s seller, ask the Notary there whether everything checks out and is in order, and only pay through a cashier’s check.
I hope you enjoyed this article, please leave us your feedback in the comment box below. Share it with your fellow biker friends if you think it’s helpful.
I understand the rules but that doesn’t answer my question, what I want to know is if I convert a gas motorcycle with or without title to Electric to run under 50 miles per hour, what happens to the title when the motorcycle is converted to E-Moped TOM.
I’m in Ireland, wondering how to get title for American motorcycle ? What is required ?